Mechanics q(>.<)p Grrrrrrr!!!!!! (in Off-topic)

Yeah had a coolant system failure and everything decided to go with it!!! Yep Radiator, Hoses, Thermostat, ETC Sensors and Switches (3 Total), Fan Switch, the Water Pump and of course I have to change the Timing and Fan belts. (they are old as dirt)

Mechanics told me $700 - $900 just to put the parts in this was not counting the prices of the parts themselves which was roughly $200. I gave them the bird and said I'll do it myself. I bought the parts and have been fighting with it since this afternoon. Don't get me wrong I am no slouch with a wrench but I am also not a mechanic. Sooo this has been a learning process for me and I have to say THANK YOU to Google and You Tube!!!! I think I just might get done at 2 or 3 am......lol

It's tough to do when you don't know everything about what you are dealing with but since I have those resources at my disposal it's not unrealistic just time consuming. :-)

Take that Mechanics!!!(Much respect that you can do it, screw you for over charging!!!)

Didn't even go ask a second mechanic for a better price? Seems like you picked the hard way around on this problem.

but he is using sweat equity. its a life skill to be able to work on cars. a project with some guidance and its a learning experience.

Wow that's quite the failure...what happened exactly do you know?

Not to be a jerk but: Mechanic(S)<==== Plural.

Yes I went to four different ones and got roughly the same answers on the prices. But yeah it is definitely a learning experience........lol

The usual an old car and one thing went out and caused a cascade failure by default in rapid succession.

Hope it goes well for you Z.

Next biggest time saver will be making sure you have the right tools for the job. Getting into some of them spaces is almost impossible.
Always sucks to spend on a project that is unexpected. Hopefully you have a friend near by that you can ask questions can save you a ton of time. Best of Luck.

Doesn't sound like an insane price though, as someone who doesn't like working on cars haha. As in, it's insane for anyone who's willing to put in the many hours you are putting in rather than spend the money, but for someone like me, the price is a fair trade for keeping those hours.

Had to take a bit of time away from the car because I had to make some specialty tools.....yes I made some tools and they worked!!!!......rofl Thankyou Google and Youtube. Major Shout out to Scotty Kilmer he has very good straight forward instructional videos. He doesn't cover some of the mini minor stuff....use everyone else for that. At any rate I finished the project the car hasn't blown up yet, there are no leaks and I do not hear any new unnerving sounds so I apparently did it right :-)

However the underlying reason was the car was overheating and well guess what? It still is. Now I have changed EVERYTHING except the fans.......so guess what Z has to change out next?..........Yeah Lovely isn't it?

Well if nothing else I have learned a great deal and if I ever have to do something like this again it won't be so hard or long to complete as I know what I'm doing now. As SMA said I got sweat equity >:-)

Car shouldn't overheat while driving even if the fans don't work.

Lol where's Tal when you need him :P

Whoever told you that told you wrong. This is why they have fans in the first place. Besides I was idling and revving to spike the heat so that the temp sensors would kick the fans on.

Electric fans only come on when a certain temperature is reaches. Driving around has the same effect as the fans (air hitting the radiator). Unless you have a clutch fan (the kind attached to the crankshaft) the fans won't come on until a certain temperature is reached. Sounds like a front wheel drive car, so either your fans are bad or your switch. You can take 2 wire and hook them straight to the fans via the battery, just touch 1 wire to each connection on the fan itself then connect to the battery. It doesn't matter if you have them backward that should just cause the fan to spin backwards.

What kind of car?

98' Toyota Camry 4 Cyl.

Already replaced the Sensors and Switches, all I have left are the fans and Relays. The Relays don't have a burnt odor, no swelling, signs of overheating or anything that would indicate they are out of service. The fans however are more than likely original and need to be retired.....lol

Does it have a cap on the radiator? If you find out it isn't the fans some of those cars need about 2 gal of anti freeze. Just let it run and keep starting it up and shutting it down and add more fluid. Had a problem like this on my cavalier and my sisters neon. As for the fans I know from experience, I drove my cavalier all last winter with a busted fan. As long as you are moving above 40 mph most of the time with little idling your fans wouldn't even turn on.

like i said i would test the fan to be sure, just hit it with power and see if it comes on. If you have it out it should smell bad around the motor itself.

Well I am sure winter where you are is colder than where I am. I am in Houston and it's almost always hot here even in the winter. So I cannot drive it without it overheating in about 10 Minutes from a dead cold engine. Yes there is a cap on the radiator and I have it filled with antifreeze but I will go back and recheck as I have had that problem before.

However this has nothing to do with the fact that the fans are not turning on when it gets to "X' temperature. Either Relays or fans and I am leaning towards the fans. The turn on for the A/C but that is a low setting so the high setting can be burned out. Which from what I have read is not uncommon.

Thanks for helping me to brainstorm though, having another head in the game definitely helps!

Did you check the fuses? Not just a visual check but with a meter?

Fan replaced, the other one was about to go anyway. I got it tested and they said it was failing. still didn't fix the problem so all that is left is the relays >.<

Definitely a learning experience!

Fish: Nope I do not have a meter.

I changed the Relays and well......still a no go it's still overheating >.<

As some other people said, if you drive around in not-hot weather and everything ELSE except the fans would be working properly, you should not really get any serious overheating, as the air coming in normally should cool the radiator enough already.

My best guess so far would be that the cooling loop itself is the problem.
Which part of it, that's trickier to guess.

It could be the fluid pump (coolant pump), either working badly or not working at all, so heat from the engine is not properly moved to the radiator where it can be properly dissipated.
In case the pump itself is fine, maybe the thermostat that controls whether the pump should operate at all or not might be working wrong (or not at all), and not initiating the pump cycle even if the engine already reached optimal temperature from a cold start.
If it's not any of that, maybe there's some blockage down some of the tubing in the cooling loop preventing proper fluid flow. Could be something as trivial as a bent pipe, or it could be some dirt inside the pipe, or heck knows what else.

You really wouldn't want to damage your hand (either on some moving part or by touching something hot), so do you have any way to safely tell which parts of the cooling loop are staying cold when they should be getting warm ? If you could, the troubleshooting might be easier.

Quick troubleshooting shortcut : turn the car heating to maximum, but with the AC unit off (so, using just the radiator heating core) from a cold start until the engine starts overheating.
Does it feel unbearably hot when the engine starts overheating, or is it just a mildly warmer breeze coming out of the vents compared to when you cold-started the engine ?
If it's still only luke-warm instead of scorching hot, then it's almost certainly a fluid coolant circulation problem.

Zenai you liar! I got to Houston last Night n its freezing :(

I didn't say that we never had exceptions to the rule! Oh and where in Houston?

Oh and I am vindicated! I did everything right Auto zone sold me the wrong sensor >.<

You can effectively prevent over-heating with a simple block of wood. The size depends on the make and year of the car, but if you carve it down to the right dimensions, sticking it under the gas pedal will help keep the engine cool. It also cut down on the cost of gas.

Ahh the poor man's governor. I remember those from when I worked in a feed lot in Kansas. They helped with keeping the speed limit and did save a lot of gas except when we would get stuck.......lol. It CAN help with overheating yes but in an instance like this it would do no good. If you have an electrical/mechanical problem this must be addressed.

Then I would suggest that the dimensions weren't quite right. If you make it just right, you can save just about 100% of gas and never run into the problem of over-heating the car.

Um again that is not something that can help if it is an electrical or mechanical problem. The suggestion you made is a before the fact or an after it has been fixed additional assistance for overheating. Do note though this also drastically reduces horse power. As before I agree it does work.

Lol I think sage was being highly sarcastic, as in the car won't go :p

And I have no clue what part I am at, currently staying at the Derek hotel while I do some job interviews. Going back home tomorrow afternoon tho :)

Ahh tired and worm out so I missed it. >.<

The Hotel Derek is on Westheimer just a bit off of Hywy 59. I could actually swing by that way as my route home is in the same direction......lol